278 



NA TURE 



[September 2, 1909 



ylFi?/C.4.V ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 

 COMMITTEE. 



THE subjoined official announcement of the appoint- 

 ment of an African Entomological Research Com- 

 mittee will be received with much satisfaction in all 

 quarters where the importance of a scientific basis for 

 administrative and other official action is duly reco.s;- 

 nised. Among' the advances of biological science in 

 the last few years, none has been more remarkable 

 than the discovery that the cause of many diseases, 

 the nature and origin of which had hitherto escaped de- 

 tection, was to be sought in the presence of parasitic 

 micro-organisms of various kinds and qualities in the 

 tissues of animals and plants. The part played by 

 insects and ticks in the dissemination of these mor- 

 bific parasites is now known to be of immense im- 

 portance, and great efforts have already been made, 

 not without success, to restrict the occurrence of 

 malarial and other disorders by the systematic 

 destruction of the insect-carriers of the organisms 

 concerned. For this purpose it is essential to dis- 

 tinguish with accuracy between various closely 

 allied species; and it is here that the work of the 

 skilled entomologist proves its necessity. It was well 

 remarked by Sir. .\. E. Shipley, in his recent 

 presidential address at Winnipeg to the Zoological 

 Section of the British .Association, that " a few vears 

 ago no knowledge could seem so useless to the 

 practical man, no research more futile than that which 

 sought to distinguish between one species of a gnat 

 or tick and another ; yet to-day they knew that that 

 knowledge had rendered it possible to open up Africa 

 and to cut the Panama Canal." This witness is 

 true ; and it would be difficult to point to a more com- 

 plete demonstration of the fact that natural knowledge 

 pursued for its own sake, without any direct view to 

 future utility, will often lead to results of the most 

 unexpected kind, and of the verv highest practical 

 importance. It is this that justifies the demand that 

 both governments and such private individuals as 

 have the means should do all in their power to en- 

 courage the study and pursuit of science as science, 

 without waiting for such applications as may prove 

 to be of commercial or political value. 



When the benefits to be derived from the scientific 

 treatment of a subject are so manifest as in the 

 present case, even the most indifferent of public bodies 

 can hardly afford to stand aloof; and it is to be hoped 

 that the activity of the Colonial Office in this direc- 

 tion, begun under the auspices of Mr. Chamberlain, 

 and culminating for the present in the recent action 

 of Lord Crewe, may be taken as an indication that 

 the Government of this country is becoming in- 

 creasingly alive to the desirability of securing the 

 cooperation of scientific authorities in administrative 

 measures. But beyond this, the movement will 

 deserve a still greater welcome if it helps to emphasise 

 the importance of encouraging the pursuit of genuine 

 science, even when no immediate prospect is offered 

 of material results. F. A. D. 



In view of the intimate relation which is recognised 

 as existing between certain insects and the propaga- 

 tion of diseases of both man and animals in tropical 

 Africa, and of the similar relation between insects 

 and economic plants, which is becoming more evident 

 as settlement in the continent progresses, Lord Crewe 

 has appointed a Scientific Committee, the object of 

 which will be to further the study of economic ento- 

 mology with special reference to Africa. 



This body will be known as the African Entomo- 

 logical Research Committee, and Lord Cromer has 

 consented to act as chairman. The other members 

 of the committee are :— Lieut.-Colonel A. W. Alcock, 

 NO. 2079, VOL. 81] 



C.I.E., F.R.S., Mr. E. E. Austen, Dr. A. G. Bag- 

 shawe, Dr. J. Rose Bradford, F.R.S., Colonel Sir 

 David Bruce, C.B., F.R.S., Dr. S. F. Harmer, 

 F.R.S., Dr. R. Stewart MacDougall, Sir John Mac- 

 fadvean. Sir Patrick Manson, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., Mr. 

 R. Nevvstead, Prof. G. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., Prof. E. B- 

 Poulton, F.R.S., Lieut.-Colonel D. Prain, CLE., 

 F.R.S., Mr. H. J. Read, C.M.G., the Hon. N. C. 

 Rothschild, Dr. D. Sharp, F.R.S., Dr. A. E. Shiplev, 

 F.R.S., Mr. S. Stockman, Mr. F. V. Theobald, and 

 Mr. C. Warburton. Mr. A. C. C. Parkinson, of the 

 Colonial Office, is acting as secretary to the com- 

 mittee, and Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall as scientific 

 secretary. 



Arrangements are being made to despatch a trained 

 entomologist to the east side of tropical Africa and 

 another to the west, for the purpose of stimulating 

 official and other residents to collect and observe 

 noxious insects, and of affording instruction in the 

 use of scientific methods. By this means it is hoped 

 to obtain throughout these territories an organised 

 body of investigators who will communicate all their 

 collections and observations to the committee. These- 

 collections will be classified by a number of British 

 and in some instances Continental entomologists, and 

 named specimens will be distributed to such institu- 

 tions as may require them for purposes of instruction, 

 both at home and in Africa. The committee will also- 

 keep in touch with the work which is being done in 

 this branch of science in Egypt and the Sudan and 

 in South Africa. The scientific results, including all 

 observations and experiments made by the collectors, 

 will be published from time to time in a journal or 

 bulletin to be issued by the committee. 



It is hoped that by such organised cooperation the 

 knowledge of these matters will be materially in- 

 creased, so as to render possible the application of 

 effective remedial measures. Offers of cordial assist- 

 ance have been received from such institutions as the 

 British Museum (Natural History), the London and 

 Liverpool Schools of Tropical Medicine, and the lead- 

 ing universities, in all of which valuable work has 

 already been done in the same direction. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT WINNIPEG. 



THE Winnipeg meeting of the British Association 

 has been a complete success. Hundreds of 

 citizens of Winnipeg, together with representatives of 

 science in Canada, the L^nited States, and Great 

 Britain, filled the Walker Theatre when the presi- 

 dential address was delivered by Sir Joseph Thomson 

 on .August 25. Mr. Francis Darwin, the retiring 

 president, was unable to be present, but he sent a 

 letter, which was read by Prof. Carey Foster, ex- 

 pressing the hope that the meeting would be worthy 

 of its distinguished president. The addresses of 

 presidents of sections were delivered on .August 26 

 and 27, and we are able to print two of them this 

 week, with a summary of the lecture delivered by 

 Dr. A. E. H. Tutton on the former date. We have 

 been forced, however, to omit parts of Prof. Arm- 

 strong's long address to the chemical section in order 

 to find space this week for Dr. Smith Woodward's 

 address to the section of geology. 



The Times correspondent at Winnipeg reports that 

 the proposal to create a separate section of agricul- 

 ture, which at present is a subsection of botany, has 

 been rejected. On Saturday, August 2g, there were 

 various excursions to places of interest. Nearlv a 

 hundred members visited Portage la Prairie, and were 

 conveyed in motor-cars through the wheatfields, the 

 trip covering a distance of thirty miles. The visitors 

 were thus given the opportunity of seeing one of the- 



